Flash Fanfiction - future story - The End of The Earth - finale
by Reign Atkins
Summary: Set 15 years from Episode 1, this is really Astrid's story. I love future stories and this is set after Astrid has gone rogue leaving everyone and everything behind. Barry manages to bring her back to Central City claiming to need her help with something big... Its a real girl power sort of story in the making...
1. Chapter 1

Astrid sat in a bar, in a small town that she wasn't all that familiar with. She scanned the drunken patrons. None of whom were a threat to the lone forty-year old woman who could break their arms if they tried anything.

She was far away from home not that it would feel much like home if she were there. The crumbling of STAR Labs had been a sign that leaving Central City was long overdue. It had been five years since she had left, but seeing the scarlet speedster in the paper almost brought a tear to her eye. She was happy that he was enjoying the limelight. Good for him.

He and Iris surely deserved their happiness, but after everything… she would not return. She still felt resentment that he had kept her in the dark about her true identity, for a very long time. And although she could understand why, it still hurt. They had been a family, but after everything went to hell, that had been broken. Cisco was dead, Barry was a father and even Caitlin had gone her own way.

But then she saw the man that she was waiting for, enter the door. He looked as if he hadn't shaven in months, probably because she knew that he hadn't. He nodded at her from the door and walked towards her, taking his seat in the booth across from her.

"It's been a while, Ollie." She said, finishing her scotch.  
"It has." He said, glancing at the newspaper before her, "Things certainly have changed."  
"Yeah, they have… so cut the crap! You've been searching for me for over a year. What do you want?"

"What? No hug?" he asked, with a smile. She stared at him, tempted to make his brain explode on the spot, so he sighed and ordered them both a drink.

"Something big is coming. We need your help." Oliver said.

Astrid shook her head. "No, I'm out. I've been out of the business for a long time, Oliver. Besides you have your league and your little… minions… and if the news serves me right, you're all doing just fine without me."

"Star…"

"…Don't call me Star!"

"Ok, Astrid… But, we need you. It involves your father." Their drinks arrived, and Oliver swallowed back a mouthful.

"Oliver… My father died fifteen years ago."

"No, I don't mean Robert Sutherland… I mean your actual father. You know…"

"If you even mention that name to me, I promise that you will not be leaving this bar with your marbles in place… That man is nothing to me, but the man who gave me up for adoption." She said as she drank her fresh scotch.

"So, what? You won't help? You're the only one who can change things. It's not like you to leave when people need you…" Oliver said, as she got to her feet.

She finished her scotch and left him the empty glass. "Well, a lot can happen after five years… You should know better than anyone…"

She went to leave. Oliver stood up and grabbed her hand to stop her, but as he did, she twisted his arm and held it behind him, and caused him a crippling headache where he stood. At any moment, she could cause his head to explode. She whispered into his ear "Now, don't' follow me again, Oliver!"

She threw him to the floor, making some of the patrons stare at him as if he had tried to make a move on her.

As she left through the door, she called back to him. "Next time… try Barry!"

Oliver clambered to his feet, and shook his head.

One week later, she sat in her armchair of her current apartment, in the middle of a crime-ridden city. From outside her door she heard the shouting of a man and the screaming of a woman. The man was clearly abusing his wife again. Astrid had heard enough of it. She glanced over at her closed door, and within moments heard him scream. The man had experienced a sudden brain aneurism. She knew that the paramedics would arrive soon.

She took a sip of her scotch and barely blinked, as a gust of wind blew some papers off her coffee table. She shook her head at the scarlet speedster that was standing in her apartment, and stared at her glass.

"I bought you some Big Belly Burger!" Barry said as he handed her the bag, "remember? That was always our go-to food?" She didn't take the bag and continued to ignore him.

"Astrid, it's been five years... you can't still be mad at me."

"Barry, why are you even here? Go home. Go back to your wife and your children. I wish all of you would just do me a favor and leave me alone!"

"All of us? Who else has come looking for you?"

She stared at him, "Oliver Queen found me in a remote bar last week. He said he had news about DR Fate."

"You mean your…" Barry began, but he didn't say the word when he noticed the expression on her face, "…That's beside the point. Oliver has also gone off the radar… it's not like him… not anymore, anyway."

"Once again, Barry… I don't care. Now… run along!" she said as she looked towards the door where they heard the paramedics in the hallway declaring that the man down the hall had died from a brain aneurism.

"You didn't? You killed the man, didn't you?" he asked angrily.

"He deserved it! now, Leave, Barry!"

Barry was about to leave her for good, when he noticed a faced-down picture frame on the shelf by the doorway. He picked it up and smiled. It was a photo of he, Astrid, Caitlin and Cisco… back when they were all happy. Barry could remember the exact moment that they had taken the photo. It haunted him, just as he knew it did her.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" he asked, as he walked towards her with the picture in his hand.

"Every damn day… Why the hell are you still here?" she snapped, though she didn't move from her seat, she kept her eyes on the window.

"Despite all the downfalls we've had in our life… We've certainly had a lot of good times…"  
Astrid stood up. "Barry, you're procrastinating, when you should be leaving."

"…and you're clearly listening, otherwise you would have done your mind scream, by now… I know that you miss him, and STAR Labs might be no more… but, do you really think that this is what he'd want you to be doing with your life? You're always welcome back home."

"It doesn't matter what he would want… He's been dead for five years! And if I wanted to come back, I'd be back! The point is… I don't want to be back… but let's face it! You need me, whether it's to feed your heroic ego or save your ass yet again… Or are you and Iris having marriage problems and you need a couple's counsellor?" she mocked at him.

She had gotten to her feet, and was pouring another glass of scotch. As she did so she read his mind, knowing full well that he wasn't giving her permission to. As she took the images without his consent, her expression changed. "That's it, isn't it?" she asked him softly. "Oliver wasn't lying, was he?"

Barry shook his head, "…No, Oliver wasn't lying. Things are getting pretty dicey. We need your help, Astrid. We need the help of Mind Marvel!"

"It seems that I have no choice in the matter… you guys are just going to keep on coming after me… so fine… Let's go… you can still run can't you?"

Barry smiled at her and nodded his head. "Yeah, I can still run…"


	2. Chapter 2

Barry brought Astrid to the home that he shared with his wife Iris. It was the home that Joe had left them in his will after he had passed away, she knew it well.

What she wasn't used to was the assortment of children's artworks and toys that filled the place. Barry cleaned the place up in the instant that they had got there.

"Where's is everybody?" Astrid asked him as she took a seat on the couch, picking up a small heroic action figure of the Flash, that Barry had left on the couch, by mistake.

"Iris is the editor of the Picture News, so she works a lot. The kids are with their uncle Wally." Barry took the toy version of himself and put it away.

"Wally? As in your brother in law?"

"Wally as in Iris's brother. Yeah…" he replied. "Do you want a coffee? Or water? Or ya know… scotch?" Astrid could tell that he was nervous. It was rather nerving being here after all this time. She barely knew the man.

"Scotch would be perfect!" she replied.

"I'm sorry, we don't actually have scotch. It was a joke… a bad joke!"

"Barry… you clearly brought me here for a reason. So tell me… What is it that Central City's the Flash can't fix? What is going to end the world?"

"The Lords of Chaos!" Barry replied.

"The Lords of what?"

"Do you remember when I told you that I had caused a flashpoint and that these really bad guys had caused some sort of war…"

"Yeah… I remember… so, what? You brought me here because you think that they are going to manipulate my emotions and make me go all dark side on you? It's not going to happen, Barry."

"No, that's not it… besides, by the looks of things… It seems like something else has a hold on your emotions."

Astrid stared at him, unblinkingly when the front door suddenly opened. Wally walked in with Barry's young children. As she saw Barry's children, she remembered the past clearly.

It was a conversation between she and Cisco, six years ago. He was sitting excitedly on the lounge and he smiled over at her. "Barry's babies are so beautiful… it makes me want one." He told her.

She smiled at him and stroked his hair with her fingers. "You want a baby? With the life we live?"

"Come on… Barry is the Flash and he has two."

"Next you'll be telling me that he has a red suit so you want one…" she had laughed at him.  
"Nah, I'm pretty happy with mine… My ass looks pretty good… But this is different. Think about it… a little you running around acting like she owns the place… that would be pretty cute."

"Cisco, it isn't that easy… you can't just pick the gender of a child… well, you can… but that's just ethically wrong until they're of age to decide for themselves… but that's beside the point… Babies are hard work… You have to feed them, clothe them, raise them… for at least eighteen years…"

"Think about it… we can raise them on all the good movies… Star Wars, Harry Potter… you're a wizard, Harry! Do you think he'd have powers? He could have powers! On that thought, Harry would be a good name!"

She had laughed and kissed him, knowing that any kid would be lucky to have him as a father.

"Astrid, Astrid?" Barry's voice trailed in over her thoughts. "Where were you? You remember Wally? And my kids don't you?"

"Sure, Don and Dawn, right? The twins. Hi, Wally. It's been a while." Wally gave a quick wave and took the kids upstairs.

"So, where were we?" Barry asked, getting back on track, "right… we need to rescue your father."

"I don't care who he is… he's not my father, Barry. He's just one of the guys that we need to help, so he can stop the end of the world. Though, I don't remember reading my part in any of this."

"You tell me… You're the anomaly."

"Yeah, only because you went back and rescued me… Didn't you forget, this was once again one of your mistakes."

"So, what? I was just supposed to let you die?"

"Well maybe you should have, Barry. We wouldn't be in this mess to begin with… Cisco never would have died, Caitlin would still be here, hell think about the amount of people that would still be alive…"

Barry was going to argue with her, but then his children bounded back down the stairs. "Daddy, uncle Wally said that he is going to take us racing this weekend!"

"Provided he keeps you safe!" Barry replied sternly.

"Always, Bar." Wally replied as he gave the children their coats, they said their goodbyes and left.

"Do you ever think about…" Barry asked.

"Every damn day…" Astrid replied.

"You can always visit him… You didn't need to give him up…"

"You know as well as I do, that's a lie. Regardless, I'm not here to bring up old wounds. Let's just get to work so I can go back home."

"Back to your scotch?"

"Back to my scotch!"


	3. Chapter 3

Barry and Astrid arrived at Jitters, she looked around her. The place had certainly received an upgrade in the past few years, but it was still the same old cafe.

Barry ordered them both some coffees and sat down at their old table. "So, where do we start?" Astrid asked.  
"We find Caitlin." Barry said.

Astrid laughed, "as in Snow? She won't help you!"

"What do you mean?" Barry asked. "do the two of you still keep in contact? Why won't she help us?"  
It occurred to Astrid that Barry had never received an explanation for their friend's departure, "Of course we still talk. Though, these days Frost is a little more in control… She won't help because it's you, Barry."

"Me? What do you mean?"

"God, Barry. Don't make me spell it out for you! Caitlin was in love with you and you hurt her, by choosing Iris… Caitlin did her best to stay neutral, but by the end of it, she couldn't deal. Her ultimate choice was to either let Frost take over or leave. Unfortunately, she picked both."

Barry looked around the old coffee house, it all made sense. He rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "Wow!" he said. "But we'll still need her help… can you…"

"Betray her trust and rope her into another one of your suicide missions just to rub in the fact that you have a happy little family? Sure, Barry! Sign me up! Look, I get it. Things are tough, and the most I can promise is that I will try… but it's not going to be easy. Frost isn't the same girl she once was. We've worked together a few times… she's definitely no longer the Caitlin she once was either."

Barry watched over Astrid's shoulder, and nodded in the direction behind her. Astrid turned around and her heart sank. She watched as the retired Captain Singh arrived into the coffee shop with his husband and their young adopted son. "Barry, I need to go." Astrid exclaimed, but Barry held her hand. "No stay." He told her.

"Please…" she pleaded. But it was too late, Singh had arrived at their table. His husband and child had gone over to order some drinks.

"Astrid, it's good to see you." Singh said politely.

"Likewise." She replied, watching the young child. A miniature version of his father. "Though, I need to cut this short…" she tried to leave again, but Barry still had a hold of her hand.

"I think that I should leave the two of you to chat for a little bit." Singh said, noticing her anger for the speedster.

"You set me up, Barry!" Astrid snapped, when Singh was no longer in earshot.  
"I'm sorry. Paco has been having problems with his powers, and I figured that while you're in town to help me with all of this other mess, that maybe…"

"Maybe what? That I can act like a mother and help him learn to use them? Cisco made him a necklace to dampen his powers… Barry, you know why I left."

"Yeah, I do. But don't you think that he is the reason that the Lords of Chaos are back? I mean, they were after you and you led them away, but all of a sudden he is having problems with his powers, not to mention nightmares… maybe he drew them here."

"…Barry…" Astrid sighed, "As much as I hate it… you could be right… but what? I'm new to this. Do I say hey, I'm your mother… I hear you're having problems with your powers? Barry, the kid is four. And… he looks like Cisco. Why did they have to grow his hair?" she asked, looking over at the child.

Barry smiled, "he does doesn't he? You couldn't have left him with a better family! Singh has told him about his real parents, he's done half the work for you… Why not give it a shot?"

"Because that will just give me a reason to stay…" Astrid said under her breath. She took a sip of her coffee. David Singh, his husband Rob and young Paco arrived at their table and sat down.

"Paco wants to know if he can get the Flash's autograph." David asked.  
"The Flash? Pfft!" Astrid scoffed as a joke, "I'm pretty sure his old friends were cooler. Did you ever hear about Vibe and Mind Marvel?" she asked the boy.

He looked up at her shyly and nodded. "They were my mom and dad." He said.  
Astrid looked over at Singh and raised her eyebrows. He smiled and said "He just doesn't know who they are in person… But everybody knows that the Flash is Barry Allen."

Astrid bit her bottom lip. Singh knew her true identity. She had revealed it to him numerous times, but she wasn't sure if she was relieved that he hadn't told the child.

She looked at the boy, and spoke in a low whisper. "I hear that you can do some pretty cool things. That you can read minds." He nodded at her, but said nothing.

But then she opened a mind link to him. 'I can too. See?'  
The child's brown eyes grew wide and he thought back to her, 'wow, you can do it too!'

She nodded at him and smiled. 'I hear that you have been having some bad dreams, as well.'

'Yes, both at day and night. When I'm awake. They are very scary.' He thought back.

She could sense the power that this child contained within him. Something that she herself had never experienced. It reminded her of the first time that she had met Grodd. Even though she had spent the last fifteen years trying to control her powers, she could tell that this child was far stronger than she could ever dream of being.

She looked at Barry, David and Rob. "Okay, I'll help. But, you're right Barry. The only way that I can help is if this child trusts me… I need to tell him who I am."


	4. Chapter 4

Astrid invited Barry, David Singh, his husband Rob and young Paco back to the old Sutherland mansion. She had not been there in a very long time, but the caretaker had kept it in immaculate condition, in case she ever returned, which included keeping a well-stocked fridge and pantry.

The child was in awe of the house and as he explored the place, the adults spoke in Astrid's living room. "Are you sure that you're ready to tell him that you're his mother?" Barry asked, "That's a big step."  
"Though a remarkable one, that I am very much in favor of. It will answer many of his questions," Singh replied, "He often wonders who his real parents are, under the mask."

"So what have you told him about me?" she asked the retired captain.

"That his mother was an amazing mind reader, that she fought crime with the Flash and I had the pleasure of knowing both she and his real father." Singh said.

Suddenly, there was a blood curdling scream coming from the child in the next room, they all ran to his aid. When they found him, he was in a trance like state. He was receiving a vision

Astrid immediately read his mind and saw the torment that the young child was not only seeing but being made to cause. She sent calming thoughts into his mind, it was hard to compete with the torment that he was seeing. The vision was strong, and it was as if someone else were controlling his thoughts. But alas, it managed to subside.

The child fell to his feet, just as she caught him. He was whimpering in fear. She held him, continuing to send him calming thoughts until he felt better. This was the first time that she had held him since she had given him up. "That vision that he saw…" She said to the other three, "…it was intense. Someone is trying to control him to do some pretty bad things."

"Did you happen to see who it was?" Barry asked.  
"No, I couldn't tell… They were working through his mind."

"So, we need to figure out a way to keep him safe," Rob said. "We can't let anyone hurt him."

"Clearly that necklace isn't helping. God, I wish Cisco were here he would be able to think of some invention to help." Astrid said in frustration.

"What about those old ear pieces we used to wear?" Barry asked. "I'm sure with a little tinkering we should be able to sort something out."

"Barry? Since when did you become an engineering genius?" Astrid asked him, shocked.

"I learnt from the best… plus, I built Gideon… Remember?"

"Okay, well… I should be able to find a set around here somewhere. Wait, down here!" Astrid raced up the stairs to the office that had once belonged to her Robert Sutherland which she had taken as her own. She went through a small old lock box and found her old power control bracelet. She picked it up and smiled as another memory crossed her mind.

The time that she had first been given it. Before they had gone to Smallville. How angry she had been at Cisco for building it because he didn't trust her to not read their minds.

She pocketed the bracelet and picked up two small ear pieces that had once belonged to Cisco. She never needed a set as they would only dampen her abilities. Clearly the necklace that Paco wore was nowhere near as strong as it needed to be.

She brought the ear pieces down stairs and handed them to David. "Here, connect these to his ears and turn the dial. They will inhibit his powers, but they will also ensure that no one can get into his mind. The used to belong to Vibe."

"You can do it," David said. "It looks like he trusts you." The child looked up at her and smiled.

She felt slightly uncomfortable, as she had spent the past few years making herself unreachable to others to avoid getting close to anyone.

"Fine." She said. She stroked the child's hair back from his ears and begun to apply the ear pieces. "these will stop you from being able to read people's minds… but they will make it so others can't control your thoughts. How does that sound?" she asked him with a smile.

"Thank you." He said smiling back. He leant over and hugged her around her waist. Once again, she felt a little odd, but she managed to hug the child back.

Barry grinned at her, once again with his dorky grin.

"You wanted to find Caitlin? Let's go." Astrid said trying to break the tension.

"Wait, didn't you want to tell Paco who you really are?" Barry asked her.

"I get the feeling that he already knows." She said.


	5. Chapter 5

A few towns over in a rough bar downtown, a woman served drinks to her patrons on the other side of the bar a large male bartender served Astrid, "What'll it be?" he asked.

"A scotch on the rocks. Make it cold. Speaking of cold… What's that white stuff that generally falls from the sky when it's cold?" she asked him with a grin.

"Are you stupid? Or just plain drunk?" he asked her with a sneer. He was clearly having a bad day and she was enjoying antagonizing him.

"Come on, just humor me. What is it?" she asked him.

"it's snow. Why?" he asked her, but it wasn't loud enough to satisfy her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked him, glancing across at the woman who hadn't yet seen her.

The male bartender growled at her loudly. "It's Snow!"

The female bartender turned around and looked at them. Sure enough, it was Caitlin.

The male bartender looked as if he were ready to hit Astrid so Caitlin approached them. "You handle those men over there… I'll take this one." Caitlin said nodding towards Astrid.

"Oh look, if it isn't Snow." Astrid said with a smile.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Are you still rolling with Captain Cold and Heatwave?" Caitlin asked, filling up Astrid's glass with ice and pouring in the best scotch that the bar had.

"Can you make the glass a little colder for me, please?" Astrid asked her, pointing at the glass. "…and this time, don't bring out Frost… She was a pain last time. But no... Citizen Cold… as he is hell bent on calling himself now, Heatwave and I, well... we went our separate ways six months ago. Things got a little awkward between Snart and I..."

Caitlin handed Astrid the glass, cooling it down as she did so. "So then, what brings you back to my neck of the woods?"

"Can't it just be for the drinks? It still gets me why the woman who tried to tell Constantine the health risks of smoking, would surround herself with second hand smoke and literally feed people liver poisoning. Though, I'm not complaining. You do serve the best scotch!" Astrid smiled as she took a sip of her drink and swirled the ice around in the glass.

"We're all going to die somehow, right?"

"That was cold, Snow… even for you."

Suddenly, Astrid felt the slide of someone's hand on her leg. Both the women looked up as they saw a drunk looking man at least two feet taller than them both, sitting beside her.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three, to remove your hand before you leave here in a body bag." Astrid said to him, "One…"

He grinned at her, he wasn't going to move his hand.

"Two…"

Leave her alone." Caitlin told him.

"You stay out of this." The man barked at Caitlin, "Just shut up and pour my dri… owwwww!" The girls watched and did nothing, as blood began to trickle from his ears. He was in crippling pain.

"I did warn you." Astrid said to him. She was slowly causing him a brain aneurism.

"Astrid, he hasn't paid his tab." Caitlin said putting up her hand to stop her.

"Fine…" She released the pressure on the man's mind, making him gasp to try and catch his breath. "What the hell!" he yelled as he pulled out a shotgun and aimed it at her.

Astrid shook her head, but didn't flinch in the slightest. "Look around you." She said to the man.

She had compelled every patron in the bar who owned a weapon to hold it aimed at him. He looked around and stopped in fear.

He lowered his weapon and stormed out of the bar, as Astrid made every patron lower their weapon and forget the entire situation completely.

"Put his drinks on my tab. That was fun." Astrid said to Caitlin who wore a side smirk to her face.

"You're making a tab? Does that mean you're staying?" Caitlin asked her.

"Until I get what I want."

"Very Typical! Which brings me back to, why are you here?"

"Pour me another drink and I'll tell you." Astrid said, pushing her empty glass towards the bartender.

Caitlin did as she was asked and once again, cooled down the glass as she handed it to her friend. "Well… I'm waiting." She said.

"Just say that I needed your help with a pretty important mission."

"You know that all you have to do is ask… but why are you trying to barter with me?" Caitlin paused until it dawned on her as to why Astrid was really there.

"You've joined up with Barry again? Why would I… or even you for that matter… want to help him? If it wasn't for him, we both know that Cisco would still be alive." Caitlin asked with a need to just know the answer.

Astrid took a large drink before she spoke. That truth had cut her to the core. "it wasn't entirely his fault… he didn't kill Cisco… he just… hmm… caused certain events that, somewhat led to his death… But, let me ask this in another way. What if I told you that I had my own personal stakes in this?"

"Your own personal stakes? Are we talking about...?"

"My son? Yes… He's in trouble, Snow. And you're the only person that I actually trust to help me!"

"Okay, where do I sign up?"


End file.
